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The effects of the Spanish Civil War on the writers of the British left : an investigation of political and literary interaction

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Bonner, Frances Jane 1968, 'The effects of the Spanish Civil War on the writers of the British left : an investigation of political and literary interaction', Unspecified thesis, University of Tasmania.

Abstract

Controls over the mass media are effective insofar as theyfacilitate the achievement of the goals of the organization and theneeds of the people associated with it, They are imposed in five areas,the organization, the audience, the sources, the advertisers and thelegal. Apart :rem the last mentioned area, most controls are informal andnot even regarded as controls. The most basic organizationalcontrol for example is the praise or promotion of workers who producematerial consonant with the style and expectations of their superiors.This produces a body of people, particularly in the higher echelonswho do not need to be instructed over frequently as to the nature of the product preferred by the owners or directors.The legal controls exist primarily in the laws against defamation,obscenity, blasphemy and sedition and in the various provisionsregarding contempt of court. The Customs Regulations affect the massmedia only in their concerns with imported magazines and imported filmfor television. The Posts and Telegraph Act applies restrictions onmaterial sent through the mail and as most daily newspapers are registered,as periodicals to be sent through the mails they come underadditional restrictions here. One of the few legal restraints whichexists solely in regard to the mass media is the D notice system underwhich information which could be prejudicial to the defence of Australiais prohibited from being used on or in any mass medium. The press is not controlled to the same extent by Governmentlegislation as are the electronic media and they appear to be moresubject to controls by tradition and by a more formal organizationstructure. In all but one case (Consolidated Press, which recently soldits sole daily paper) the media monopolies are based on newspaperholdings ) for initially the Government favoured the applications fortelevision licences of those with experience in the media field.Both the Government instrumentalities, the A.B.C. and the AustralianBroadcasting Control Board i have been hindered in their operationsand development by Government interference in areas which should havebeen the concern solely of the body itself. Now that most radio andtelevision licences have been allocated, the main concern of the Control Board seems to be with ensuring that programmes do not offend'good taste' and that a certain amount of good children's, religiousand educational programmes are broadcast. Commercial radio and televisionare controlled by the Control Board, desire to make a profit and the belief, of varying degrees of intensity, that they are performinga community service.A case study of Southern Tasmania examines the day-to-day operationsof various media in a restricted area in an attempt to findmore about the undocumented controls. Finally it is concluded that themain factor common to all controls over the mass media in Australiais fear, of public relations, of superior's displeasure, of losingmoney or office, of offending foreign powers or influential people,and a fear of the effects that the mass media may have.

Copyright 1968 the Author - The University is continuing to endeavour to trace the copyrightowner(s) and in the meantime this item has been reproduced here in good faith. Wewould be pleased to hear from the copyright owner(s).